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I have been a non-churchgoing Christian now for a couple of years and have really taken Christian values to heart. I have so far learned how sinning was bringing me to a bad place and now I feel in love with humanity again.

I decided I wanted to go to the Orthodox Christian Church but have been terrified of even speaking to them. I have lingering rejection issues from childhood.

The reason I like this Church is not only the Orthodox values, but I feel it would be interesting to worship with Greeks as I already know the alphabet and it might help me to get a fresh perspective on things.

Do Greek Orthodox churches in England welcome and accept English attendees?

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    – Lee Woofenden
    Commented Dec 17, 2016 at 19:07
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    I would be very surprised if they did not welcome English attendees. I have attended Greek churches locally in the US and have found them to be very welcoming without exception. I've been looking through the literature of the UK Archdiocese at thyateira.org.uk and can't find any mention of ethnicity whatsoever, which is not surprising. The liturgy will be in Greek and English, and all of their literature is available in both according to the website. My advice: give them a call, tell them that you're English and interested in joining them for worship and feel it out for yourself.
    – Andrew
    Commented Dec 17, 2016 at 20:11
  • A church is a house of God; everybody is welcome, for we are all children of God, each created in His image. Therefore entering a church is not — and must not be — predicated on individual biological factors, but the spiritual factor: that we are descendants from God and thus earn the right to enter any church of Him we please.
    – Mr Pie
    Commented Apr 11, 2019 at 9:38

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First of all, please note that Greek Orthodoxy is one ethnicity/jurisdiction within Eastern Orthodoxy. Eastern Orthodox Christians speak many languages and there are generally Orthodox churches in the native language of many countries in the world.

So to answer your question: Yes.

The Greek Orthodox Church has even published the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in English due to the increasing number of non-Greek-speaking people in the Church.

For Eastern Orthodox churches in general, here's a list of English-speaking Orthodox churches in the UK. If you are only interested in Greek Orthodox churches, then check this out. Each Greek Orthodox church will have its own preferences on the language of the Divine Liturgy, with many being blended between English and other languages. You will need to visit to determine what each parish's practice/preferences are.

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  • And if you're anywhere near Northampton, I highly recommend this parish.
    – Dan
    Commented Jan 10, 2017 at 3:00
  • FWIW, I am an American and was allowed to be in a Greek Orthodox Church in Michigan during the formal service. (No, I did come forward to receive, as I am not within that Faith Community). Their welcome to all was a notable message received from those of us in the back pews. It was heartwarming.
    – KorvinStarmast
    Commented Mar 30, 2019 at 1:22
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Yes of course you can. The Greek Orthodox Church welcomes all. Services are always partially in Greek and the local vernacular. I went to one church in Madrid that had speakers & prayers in Greek, Spanish, Albanian, Russian, and Arabic in the same service, representative of the members of the community - it was awesome. I’m going to be in London for Palm Sunday (note Orthodoxy follows the old calendar so this year our Palm Sunday is Western Easter Sunday) and plan on attending church while there. There are huge numbers of non-Greek converts to Orthodoxy by those on a spiritual journey back to the most ancient of Christian religions with a beautiful full and meaningful liturgy (actually in the US in California some 15-20 Protestant parishes on a spiritual journey converted in their entirety to Orthodoxy including their clergy). Expect the full Bible as both Old and New Testament are part of our religious knowledge. And there is plenty of wisdom from texts of church fathers dating back centuries that help you to understand what the meaning and purpose of living a Christian life is all about. As well there are modern texts - Bishop Kallistos Ware - himself a convert comes to mind. These writings are phenomenal and timeless and entirely relevant to our lives today. Orthodoxy is not just about church on Sunday, it is a path.

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